The D.C. medical examiner's office loses accreditation.

The D.C. medical examiner's office has lost its national accreditation because the agency's chief lacks board certification, weakening the prosecution of criminal cases in court and potentially keeping the agency from moving into the city's $220 million forensics lab set to open next year, city officials said.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is tasked with conducting autopsies in homicide cases. It also does the urine analysis for suspected drunk drivers in the District ?-- the only means available for testing blood-alcohol levels as the city works to revive its alcohol breath-test program, which was shut down in February 2010 because the police department poorly calibrated the equipment.

Now that the long-troubled agency has lost its accreditation, defense attorneys can more easily attack in court the evidence that comes out of the office.

"It does make the government prosecution of criminal cases more difficult," said at-large D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson, whose committee oversees the medical examiner's office. "It's another issue a defense attorney can raise during trial."

Without accreditation, the medical examiner also won't be able to move into the new crime lab, he said.

"We want everything accredited that goes into the lab," Mendelson said.

The medical examiner's office did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.

Link:
http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2011/05/dc-medical-examiners-office-loses-accreditation